1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to nail clippers and more particularly to nail clippers with catchers for receiving the clipped nails.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,511 issued Dec. 17, 1991 to Abraham E. Ro for a Nail Clipper discloses a nail clipper comprising a bottom container, a top plate having connection means at a rear end to the container, the container having an upturned cutting edge at a front end of the container, the plate having a downturned cutting edge opposite to the upturned cutting edge, a lever having a shaft journaled in a post mounted on the container for deflecting the plate, and the container having front and rear clipping storage chambers. The top plate has an opening which can be covered by a swinging nail file rotationally attached to the plate. Nail clippings may be emptied from a rear chamber of the container by rotating the nail file away from the opening. They can also be emptied from a front chamber of the container through the space between the cutting edges.
U.S Pat. No. 2,179,435 issued Nov. 7, 1939 to P. H. Smith for a Nail Clipper discloses a similar nail clipper and container with an opening in the top plate coverable by the lever for emptying nail clippings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,090 issued Oct. 11, 1988 to Mario R. Grassi for a Nail Clipper Catcher also discloses a nail clipper with a nail clipper catcher, which is emptied through an opening on a lower plate. However, Grassi has a removable nail clippings receptacle which substantially increases the cost of his clipper.
In the Ro and Smith patents, the nail clippings are emptied by rotating the nail file or lever away from the opening in the plate, facing the opening downward and trying to remove all of the clippings by shaking the clipper back and forth. But not all of the clippings are easily removed from their container without a relatively prolonged shaking of the clipper.
Also in the Ro patent, when the clippings are to be emptied from the front chamber through the space between the cutting edges, the cutting edges are still spaced relatively closely in the cutting position to make complete emptying difficult.